


Breathless

by nomadichead



Category: Arrow (TV 2012), The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-15
Updated: 2015-11-15
Packaged: 2018-05-01 18:14:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 509
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5215742
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nomadichead/pseuds/nomadichead
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Barry can tell the moment it happens. It's in Oliver's eyes, light dwindling as all the walls that Barry spent so long breaking down build themselves back up.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Breathless

**Author's Note:**

> My first soirée into the Flarrow fandom. These boys just wouldn't leave me alone! 
> 
> Thank you for taking the time to read

Barry can tell the moment it happens. It's in Oliver's eyes, light dwindling as all the walls that Barry spent so long breaking down build themselves back up. 

They're still naked, Oliver stripped down bare for Barry to see yet still caccooned in layers, hidden from the world. And really Barry shouldn't be surprised, should know by now that this is always how it plays out. But he can't help himself, let's Oliver take him apart with calloused lips and clever hands even though he knows the older man will never stay.

He could reel the words off by heart by now, has heard Oliver tell him that this was a mistake and it can't happen again a million times, the vigilante's voice stoic and lifeless. And logically Barry knows he's right. This is a bad idea in so many different ways, a risk that is so much larger than them. But Barry is more than willing to let himself get burnt for Oliver. 

The swear on his skin is already cooling as he watches the other man tug on his boxers, not even sparing Barry a glance as he searches for his shirt. Barry watches as the muscles in Oliver's back ripple, feel his own chest tighten as he tugs the sheets further up his body. Oliver is like an animal, the power in his body undisguisable, the calculating look on his face cold as he does up the last of his buttons. It makes Barry ache, hands twitching as he resists reaching out. 

He knows asking him to stay would be futile,  would put the rejection into words and Barry's not sure he's ready to hear that yet. Even after all these months, he still clings to the glimmer of hope that things might change. That one day Oliver will open up just that bit further, let him in just that bit deeper. After Iris, Barry hadn't thought he could ever feel heartbreak like that again but this is different, painful in ways he'd never even imagined. 

Soul break. 

And he knows Oliver doesn't mean to hurt him, that inside the other man's head he's trying to do the right thing. Trying to save Barry from future hurt. Barry knows what Oliver thinks of himself, knows that the weight of what he's done is heavy on his shoulders, that he can't see the good that Barry sees. So Barry keeps on waiting, blindly,  that one day Oliver will change his mind. That one day Oliver will stay. 

The other man doesn't hesitate as he finishes collecting his things, heading towards the door, each step resonating through Barry like a punch. He opens his mouth to say something, face pinched into a frown, but nothing comes out except a huffed breath. His limbs feel numb, heart racing in his chest as he silently begs the older man to turn around, to come back and tell Barry that everything will work out.

And then Oliver is gone and for the first time since becoming the Flash, Barry feels breathless.


End file.
